Thursday, May 24, 2012

Tree Bee Trapout

Hello all of you friendly to bees!

I wanted to write a quick post about my first trap-out since I decided to start increasing the apiary size by looking for swarms, doing colony cut-outs out of houses, and now tree trap-outs as well. I have some pics I will post below, and if I can get my videos all spliced together I might even post a movie.

First things first though, an explanation of what a trap-out is. A trap-out is where there are bees in something that cannot be damaged, and it will take coaxing and coercion to get them out without resorting to killing them. In this case I have been tasked to remove wild bees from a really old oak. Me and 4 other people could prolly hug around it. Well if it didn't have angry stingy bees living in it that is.

Anyway, the tree is huge, and the bees have chosen to live in it. Their entrance is about 6-7 feet off the ground in a big knot hole. Not bad, and hurray for me, I won't be on a ladder! The owner of the property did not want to cut the tree down, which is one of the ways bees are removed, but I agreed to find some other way. Trapping the bees out was going to be method here.

First, the coaxing part is to have a hive setting very closely to the entrance of the wild colony. Inside of this hive box will contain frames, and a special frame that is filled with eggs. I understand it has to be eggs or the trapout will fail. So the morning I set the trap up I stole a frame of eggs out of one of my hives destined to be the lure in the hive box. The theory is that the bees will smell the eggs, and the smell of bees on the frame of comb, and move in to start taking care of the eggs. At that point if they do move in they will realize they have no queen, and begin developing a queen out of a few of the eggs. After 3 weeks a queen will emerge and take over the hive. At this point the hive has become home to the colony and it can be removed to some other place.

The coercion part of this trapping-out is the escape cone, or trap-out cone. It is number 8 hardware cloth (#8 means 8 squares per inch, or approximately 1/8 squares) and it is fashioned into a cone shape. A piece of plywood is used to hold the cone in place. A hole is drilled in the plywood, the cone inserted with some of it folded over on the back of the plywood, and for mine stapled in place. It should look something like this:

Behind the cone during installation I have fashioned a tinfoil muff of sorts about 5 inches across and wider than the bee knot hole. This will be squished when I push down against the plywood holding the cone. It should provide a tight seal against the uneven surface of the tree and all without caulking or other messy things. The plywood is them secured in place by deck screws. Here's a pic of it attached to the tree:

The magical thing about this cone is that the bees can exit, but because of the way their eyes work they cannot discern that the tip of the cone is the way to get back in, so bees leave, but cannot get back in to the hive showing up instead at the base of the cone where they can smell bees but can't get to them. Since there is a hive sitting closely that smells like home the bees will investigate, locate the eggs and begin caring for them. Other bees will join them (meaning any bee that leaves the original colony in the tree) until a point where a dearth is perceived on the part of the wild hive still inside the tree ("Why isn't anyone coming back from outside with food?"), and at that point the queen and those last bees able to fly will leave the tree looking for a better place to locate food. So they might be seen making a swarm swarm from the bee tree to signify that we are close to the end. The time it takes to get to this point is about 6 weeks total.

At this point once all bees have left and no one is coming out of the tree that the cone can be removed. What!! You might be saying. But it is ok, the colony has moved into the hive box, the tree Queen has flown off and all that remains in the tree is honey, and pollen. Since the box is home, has a queen they love dearly, and there are no guard bees around the tree entrance, the hive box bees will go into the tree and burgle all of the honey in the tree and bring it back to the box. Yoink! Finder's keeper's and all.

Once the robbing has ended, I will sneak up on the hive in the dead of night and plug the exits, then transport the hive back to it's new home in my apiary. Ta-dah, free bees. The next morning they will fly out, do some circles to orient themselves and head off looking for food.

And that's it, no pesticides, free bees, and only a little time to invest as the bees do all the moving.

I like it.

I will be making a handful of trips over there to check on them and will update the blog with their progress.

Netflix Movie Reviews

Eureka - Nerds gone wild. High tech science run amok with a bewildered sherrif attempting to hold it all together. Was pretty good, but is over now. Sigh.

Bob's Burgers - 2 seasons are on Netflix and I think they are funny. From the crew that brought you Home Movies a burger restauranteur is dealing with family and business issues. Animated.

Django Unchained - Quentin Tarantino strikes again with a movie of pre civil war south. Gore is good.

Tucker and Dale vs Evil - a real mainstream weekend funny movie. I have to admit I did find it entertaining.

Dead Man - painful and slow. But in a way the good kind of pain, although it did drag a bit.

The IT Crowd - A BBC comedy of 2 IT guys and their new boss who has no clue about computers. The characters make this one for me, and Emiloo laughed at their hijinx as well. Although the owner of the company heavy episodes were less entertaining.

Mars - just goes to show how well bright colors please my underdeveloped mind. It was cutesy, and it kept moving along which made the time pass pleasantly.

Breaking Bad - Another one that I just couldn't get into. I kept yelling "Kill him already!" and Emiloo requested I watch something else.

Black Books - Just couldn't get into it. I suppose ever since "Sean of the dead" I have hated Dylan Moran.

The Last Mountain - documentary of how big coal removes whole mountains to keep the lights on regardless of who it affects. Watch it sometime if you want to be pissed at coal peeps. Otherwise support wind power for the future.

Monsters - Hmm, aliens accidentally are dropped into the border area between Mexico and the US. Boy there sure seems some double meaning there. I'll ruin it for you if you like, they are giant flashing octopusses...see? Now you don't have to burn 90 minutes on dribble.

Bill Hicks 'Sane Man' - Stage act from 1989 shows Mr Bill coming into his own already laying groundwork for the big time. Gosh I miss his honesty. Not for children or soft adults.

Portlandia - hee hee hee heeeeee. Ok I liked it a bunch, almost all of it and that's saying something. I watched the first season twice so far, they are scheduled for a second season going on now on IFC. Also check the opening credits music by "Washed Out".

Caprica. It was okay. I am through the first season and am enjoying it less. If you are into drama then this would be ok for you.

Battlestar Galactica, the new series. I liked it. I grew up when the original one was current and this one was a bit better. Thank goodness for Netflix as it would have driven me crazy to had to wait for next weeks episode. Thumbs up.

Shaun The Sheep - ok we have really been drawn in to this series, which is a spinoff character from the Wallace and Gromit movies. If you like W&G you will like these shorts. I think we just love anything Aardman Animations and Nick Park does really.

Night on Earth - Well I liked some of it. That's about all I got on this one.

Leaves Of Grass - I like Edward Nortons work in general. I think he has some great films under his belt, but unfortunately not really this one. It was a bit 'put together', or forced connect the dots. I just didn't believe in the characters. That's me and I could be wrong and it's a terrible tragedy.

Roman Polanski 'Wanted and Desired' - I don't know how you think about his life, or what he did, but you have to admit it is a long and twisted tale of brilliance and shadows. If you want to know more about the man and his life, rent this flick. It will be worth it. Kind of makes it hard to continue to think he should be penalized. You decide.

Darwin Awards - If you have ever heard of the jet assisted car, or currently the new fun thing called 'planking' then this might be for you. It was ok, not great, but somewhat entertaining. Many 'man it's good to be me' moments. If you like other people's pain, even stupid peoples, then this is a movie for you. The foreign kid from 'That 70's Show' was in it--where has he been?

Roshomon - Japanes flick from 1957. It has subtitles so be prepared, unless you speak Japanese of course. It illustrates the way mankind has different perspectives and the faith in humanity can be pushed to the brink. It was forward for it's time, but speaks to the same themes we see today. Thumbs up.

The Hangover - I have had more original things fall out of my butthole. To be more exact it would be as if "Dude where's my car" raped "The Batchelor Party" while on Rufinol. Complete waste of time. This is only the second movie I have considered walking out on, and I was at home.

XMEN Origins: Wolverine - Ok it was fine as an action movie and all. I'm still confused how he grew up from a child and then stopped and has been an adult all this time, but it must be due to my lack of general comic book heroes knowledge.

The Lives of Others - a story of the glimmer of hope that existed behind the wall in the GDR before everything changed. Another with subtitles but well worth the attention paid.

A Town Called Panic - Ok, not everyone is going to like this one. It's stop action and the writing I thought was funking hillarious. Beware, it has subtitles so all of you wannabe lazy movie watchers will have to perk up, that or learn Dutch.

TV Funhouse - was supposed to be funny, but glaring similarities with Peewee's playhouse, conan obrien's show and other just not funny enough material made this unwatchable (from a 'I'm watching this for entertainment standpoint'.)

Chinatown - what can I say, it's Chinatown.

The Girl Who Played With Fire - More fun in the sun battling man's innate need to squash others, even if they are your daughter.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - Another great set of movies that illustrates how sinister Sweden really is. :P

The Prisoner - I remember this vaguely from my childhood. I think this is where my fear of 'Mister Bubble' comes from.

Fringe, the series. Well, I find it very Eureka-like, and always relying on the crazy scientist, or shady son's underworld connections is getting weary. Damn I am hard to please.

Eat, Pray, Love - Yup, a girl's movie for sure. "I'll be in the cheese cave."

The Cheese Nun - Awesome if you are into cheesemaking, which we are.

Planet Earth - BBC Nature series. Eggcelent.

Blood Into Wine - Tool leadman Maynard Keenen starts a winery. Emiloo found it irritating as an "infomercial for their winery". meh, it was ok.

The Runaways - Story of the seminal all girl rock band that sprouted Joan Jett. I saw JJ in SA at a night club and she puts on a great performance.

Moon - You're the clone. No you're the clone! And it was entertaining too.

Heroes - season 4. This was their last season. It does get confusing following people's 'essence' from body to body. Still, not a bad series if you like supernatural powers and the choices that can be made. "Butterfly man" needs to work on a consistent accent.

Sherlock Holmes - Well I'll tell you, I watched it twice, and fell asleep twice. Maybe it was the sepia like color palette that made me drowsy, or maybe it was the acting.

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind - The story about Chuck Barris being a CIA hitman. I loved the Gong Show!

What would Jesus buy? - If it was supposed to be funny, I didn't get it. If it was performance art, I didn't like it. Fake comes to mind regardless, don't waste your time.

Rabbit proof fence - Based on a true story. Very decent entertainment, however shows how cruel humans can be to each other in the name of good intent.

Secretary - Is this the last film James Spader was in?

Zombieland - entertaining, Bill Murray was the best part.

Walmart - the high cost of low price - - Yeah boycotting them is correct after all